When the fleet under Rear Admiral Lee caught up with the convoy, the convoy was salvaging the crew of the overboard Patrick Henry. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

After some contact, Major General Li learned what had happened.

Shortly after the transport flotilla parted ways with Rear Admiral Lee's fleet, the destroyers escorting the convoy discovered that there were Japanese submarines peeping on the convoy in the nearby waters.

The destroyer arrived at the position of the Japanese submarine, which had already dived, and the destroyer then attacked with depth charges.

While the anti-submarine warfare was in progress, another escorting destroyer used sonar to detect the suspected traces of another submarine under water nearby, but it was too late.

A Type 95 torpedo had been fired, hitting the port side of the Patrick Henry's freewheel.

Under the powerful power of the torpedo warhead explosives, the fragile Henry could not hold out for even ten minutes, first a large amount of water entered the left hull, the hull then tilted to the left, and then sank.

After leaving the battle, Rear Admiral Lee sobered up from the euphoria brought by the battle and began to analyze the situation in which the NB-14 fleet was located.

The three destroyers and one cruiser that had just survived the battle were all wounded, and only one of them was able to carry out anti-submarine missions.

Together with two intact destroyers, it now has only three destroyers that can be used for anti-submarine purposes.

According to the report, one of the two Japanese submarines that infested the vicinity has been sunk, and only one is still active in the vicinity, and the three destroyers can fully cope with it.

Rear Admiral Li is most worried about the situation of the three battleships, and the damage suffered by the three battleships at present, cannot be solved by the damage management department, and must be repaired at the shipyard.

Whether the fleet now continues west into Australia, or in other directions.

It is easy to run into the Japanese fleet again if it moves westward, and if it goes in other directions, if the Japanese fleet catches up, it will also be impossible to avoid a second naval battle.

After thinking about it, Major General Li suddenly remembered that he still had a force at his disposal, the four Sangammon-class escort aircraft carriers in the fleet.

After some contact, Rear Admiral Li learned that two of the four Sangammon-class escort aircraft carriers carried 34 aircraft with a standard carrying capacity.

There are also two ships that transport planes for the US military units in Australia, using transport standards, that is, the deck is also full of aircraft, the total number reaches seventy-two, but because the space on the deck is occupied by aircraft, the planes cannot take off from the deck.

Two escort carriers with a standard aircraft carrier capacity can participate in the battle, but good weather is needed for the aircraft to take off.

Major General Li's fighting spirit was blazing, and he decisively gave the order.

The fleet continued eastward, distanced itself from the Japanese fleet, and waited for the weather to improve.

After giving the order, Rear Admiral Lee sent a telegram to the South Pacific Fleet, reporting his thoughts and seeking support from the South Pacific Fleet.

If you can use these four escort carriers to take out the injured Kongo-class battleship, if you are a little luckier, you can take out the Yamato-class battleship・・・・・・

Major General Li was excited, and his hand wiping his glasses was shaking slightly.

・・・・・・

In the aircraft carrier Zuizuru, after Yamaguchi Tashi received the battle report, his face returned to a loveless expression.

The battleship Haruna sank, and the battleship Kirishima was badly injured and unable to participate in the next battle, but the result of the battle was not to sink a single capital ship of the opponent.

As for what Arima Dasa said about damaging the opponent's three battleships and the like, Yamaguchi Tashi automatically filtered it out.

Minor injuries are also injuries, serious injuries are also injuries, and it is completely unclear to Arima Dasa what level of damage the enemy's three battleships received.

It was the first time he independently led his troops to go on an expedition, and the first battle actually achieved such a very unoptimistic result, how could he explain it to the country.

The biggest takeaway from this battle was that after the battlefleet commanded by Arima Dasa salvaged the crews of both sides who had fallen into the water, they learned the exact names of the three battleships after interrogating the American crews.

"Don't report the results to Commander Yamamoto for the time being, and wait until the final battle is over."

Yamaguchi finally made a decision.

Looking up at the brighter sky, Yamaguchi continued, "The enemy is fleeing eastward, and this is what we want to see." Wait until the weather improves, and the real battle will begin. ”

Hour by hour, under the common expectation of the commanders of the two fleets, the dark clouds in the sky turned first gray, then white.

"Two cranes attack, two phoenixes are on standby."

Hearing an order, Yamaguchi quickly rushed out of the decks of the two aircraft carriers.

・・・・・・

On the battleship Washington, Rear Admiral Lee received two reports one after another.

The first report came from the radar room, the SC-type anti-aircraft search radar, which detected an aircraft approaching seventy kilometers away.

"It is likely that this is the enemy's seaplane, and the enemy's fleet still has illusions about us."

Major General Li had just made his judgment when the communications department sent information and listened to the radio signal.

"It's enemy planes informing their fleet of our whereabouts."

Rear Admiral Li quickly judged the origin of the radio waves, and then asked: "What are our seaplanes doing, haven't they discovered the location of the enemy fleet yet?" We must find them before they get close enough to be fired from the ship's guns. ”

Less than five minutes after Major General Lee's question was issued, the communications room finally delivered the information he desperately needed.

"Directly west of us, about a hundred nautical miles to find the enemy fleet." The communications staff officer shouted with a telegram.

"Great, finally found them." Major General Lee excitedly snatched the telegram.

"There are four aircraft carriers in the enemy's fleet." The communications staff officer continued.

"What? Where did they come from? ”

After reading the telegram, Major General Li had a look of defeat on his face.

"Report, the radar room found that the organic swarm is approaching at high speed in the west, at a distance of one hundred and twenty kilometers." A shout from the radar room came from the intercom microphone.

Rear Admiral Li rolled his eyes and shouted angrily: "Order the Sangamon and Suvani to release all planes at once, the fighters escort the fleet, and the bombers go to the west to look for the enemy." Also, let the Chernango and the Santi immediately push the planes on the deck into the sea, vacate the deck and let the planes take off, quickly, and execute it immediately. ”

Major General Li had just finished issuing the combat order, and the radar room issued another report.

"A new fleet of enemy aircraft was discovered, the total number tripled to more than a hundred."

Following the Zero fighters, the Japanese dive bomber group and torpedo group also broke into the radar observation range of the US military.

A terrible siren sounded, and on all the warships of the NB-14, anti-aircraft guns were pointed at the sky.

On the escort aircraft carriers Chernango and Santi, the ground crews on the deck were busy untying the fighters fixed on the deck, and then pushed them down to the sea, freeing up space on the deck.

On the other two escort carriers, the planes that had been preparing for the attack one after another slid out of the deck and rushed into the sky, ready to meet the Japanese fighters.

The first to appear were two waves, with a total of 36 Zero fighters rushing over the NB-14 fleet, drowning the nine F4F fighters that had just taken off, and then being surrounded by anti-aircraft fire.

Two batches of 54 Type 99 dive bombers followed closely to join the battlefield, and the altitude was quickly lowered from about 4,000 meters to 1,000 meters, followed by 500 meters.

When the Type 99 dive bombers launched an air attack in groups of three, the altitude had already been lowered to about 150 meters.

250 kg of bombs fell on the escort carrier Sangamon with a strong wind, and two of the three bombs in the first round of bombs hit.

In the middle and rear of the deck, black smoke erupted from the middle and rear of the Sangamun, and a jagged edge hole erupted in the fragile middle of the deck.

At the back of the deck, an SBD dreadnought dive bomber was thrown into the air by the powerful air wave of the bomb, tumbling and falling into the sea.

A 500-pound aerial bomb suspended under the fuselage was also thrown onto the deck, causing an even more deadly explosion.

Flames and smoke erupted from a hole in the deck, enveloping the Sangamon in the middle.

After Sangamon, the second to be hit was the escort aircraft carrier Chernango.

Before the ground crew on the deck could finish vacating the deck, the three Type 99 dive bombers had already dived down, allowing the Chernango to rush left and right, and there was no time to dodge the bomb attack.

All three bombs hit, and the planes parked on the deck were either thrown away by the air wave of the bombs, or they were blown apart, and the broken parts of the aircraft were scattered in all directions, causing a bloody storm among the ground crew.

The Sangamon-class escort aircraft carrier was converted from an oil tanker, and its anti-strike capability is completely incomparable with that of a real warship.

A not very powerful 250-kilogram bomb is enough to inflict fatal damage.

Just as the four Sangammon-class escort aircraft carriers were baptized by aerial bombs, the Japanese Type 97 torpedo plane formation, at an altitude almost close to the sea surface, rushed towards the three battleships in the face of the antiaircraft fire of the US warships.

The battleship Massachusetts was hit on the bridge during the previous artillery battle, the captain was killed, the command system was paralyzed, and it was unable to give timely command to the whole ship, and the first fell victim to torpedo machines.

In two batches, six Type 97 torpedo planes launched an attack on the starboard side of the Massachusetts.

After narrowly avoiding the three torpedoes of the first round, the battleship Massachusetts spewed two huge white sprays from the starboard center and aft side one after another, and tons of seawater poured into the hull of the Massachusetts, which slowly leaned to the right.

The USS Washington dashed left and right on the surface of the sea, running an S-shaped course at maximum speed to dodge torpedo attacks.

Rear Admiral Lee's shouts echoed across the bridge.

"Order the convoy of convoys to disperse, each looking for an opportunity to escape. The battleships all turned south and diverted the Japanese planes away. ”

The convoy of convoys fled like frightened sheep on the sea, with the exception of the battleship Massachusetts.

After being hit by two torpedoes again, the Massachusetts's hull had already reached a fifteen-degree angle to the right, and the whole ship was urgently filling the port compartment with water to maintain balance.

With the massive infusion of seawater, the speed of the battleship Massachusetts was reduced sharply, to less than twenty knots.

A three-plane formation of Type 99 dive bombers ended the Massachusetts' escape path, and two 250-kilogram aerial bombs hit the rear deck one after another, causing the battleship to seriously stall.

The fourth torpedo crew attacked, and two more torpedoes hit the starboard side of the battleship Massachusetts, and the hull, which had slightly regained its balance, irrepressibly tilted again to the right, and the angle quickly increased to almost 20 degrees.

"The USS Massachusetts is tilting to the right so badly that the acting captain has decided to abandon ship."

The bad news reached the ears of Major General Li, who had become numb.

Before the Massachusetts, there had been bad news from the escort aircraft carriers Sangamon and Chernango.

"Torpedoes were found at 110 degrees on the starboard side, torpedoes were found at 110 degrees on the starboard side, quantity three, quantity three."

The USS Washington made an emergency U-turn to evade, but only dodged two.

The shock of the torpedo explosion came from the stern of the ship and quickly spread along the soles of Rear Admiral Lee's feet to the head.

Soon after, Rear Admiral Lee received a report that the speed of the battleship had been reduced to ten knots.

Batch after batch of attacks was completed, and the Japanese fighters returned one after another, leaving only the seaplanes to continue to monitor the movements of the American fleet.

As the fighters returned one after another, Tarumi Yamaguchi learned the outcome of the battle.

One battleship and two aircraft carriers of the US army were sunk, and two more aircraft carriers were heavily damaged and incapacitated and were about to sink.

The U.S. fleet was scattering and fleeing, losing only seven of its own aircraft.

"Let the ground crew prepare the second attack wave, and order Arima Dasa to attack and bring those transport ships back."

After hesitating for a few seconds, a hint of cunning flashed in Yamaguchi's eyes, and there was a hint of schadenfreude.

"Send a telegram to Commander Yamamoto and send him the results of the previous night battle. Only send this, don't send the rest. ”